What aspects must be considered while making an investment in an Alternative Investment Fund

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November 17, 2021

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This article is written by Brijesh Devi, pursuing Diploma in M&A, Institutional Finance and Investment Laws (PE and VC transactions) from LawSikho. The article has been edited by Tanmaya Sharma (Associate, LawSikho) and Smriti Katiyar (Associate, LawSikho).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Individual investors have minimal say in portfolio compositions in most traditional investment vehicles, which have universal investment patterns. People can invest in a variety of different investment options. Common investments are divided into two types: equity-oriented investments, which are market-linked and add to a company’s equity capital, and debt-oriented investments, which are not market-linked and invest in fixed-return instruments. There are capital risks associated with equity-oriented investments, but they are outweighed by the potential for higher returns when compared to debt-oriented investments.

In debt-oriented investments, on the other hand, the risk of losing the capital invested is theoretically absent, but the chance of earning a higher return than the predetermined rate of return is also absent.

A financial asset that does not fall into one of the traditional investment categories is known as an alternative investment. Stocks, bonds, and cash are all common types of alternative investments. Private equity or venture capital, hedge funds, managed futures, art and antiques, commodities, and derivatives contracts are also examples of alternative investments. Real estate is frequently referred to as an “alternative investment.”

What is an Alternative Investment Fund?

Alternative Investment Fund or AIF means any fund established or incorporated in India which is a privately pooled investment vehicle that collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investment, following a defined investment policy for the benefit of its investors. AIF does not include funds covered under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999, or any other regulations of the Board to regulate fund management activities. Further, certain exemptions from registration are provided under the AIF Regulations to family trusts set up for the benefit of “relatives” as defined under Companies Act, 1956, employee welfare trusts or gratuity trusts set up for the benefit of employees, holding companies within the meaning of Section 4 of the Companies Act, 1956, etc.

An alternative investment is a financial asset that does not fall into one of the conventional equity/income/cash categories. Private equity or venture capital, hedge funds, real property, commodities, and tangible assets are all examples of alternative investments. Most alternative investments have fewer regulations from the SEC and tend to be somewhat illiquid. While traditionally aimed at institutional or accredited investors, alternative investments have become feasible to retail investors via alt funds, ETFs, and mutual funds.

Because of their complexity, lack of regulation, and high risk, most alternative investment assets are owned by institutional investors or accredited, high-net-worth individuals.

The three categories of Alternative Investment Funds

All Alternative Investment Funds have to state their investment strategy, investment purpose, and investment methodology in their placement memorandum to the investors. Any material alteration to the fund strategy has to be made with the consent of at least two-thirds of unit holders by value of their investment in the Alternative Investment Fund. Alternative Investment Funds have to raise funds through private placement by the issue of information memorandum or placement memorandum, by whatever name called. Extension of the tenure of the close-ended Alternative Investment Fund may be permitted up to 2 years subject to the approval of two-thirds of the unitholders by the value of their investment in the Alternative Investment Fund. In the absence of consent of unitholders, the Alternative Investment Fund has to fully liquidate within 1 year following the expiration of the fund tenure or extended tenure.

Category III Alternative Investment Fund cannot invest more than 10% of the investable funds in one investee company. Alternative Investment Fund cannot invest in associates except with the approval of 75% of investors by the value of their investment in the Alternative Investment Fund.

Applicants can seek registration as an AIF in one of the following categories as may be applicable.

Category I AIF

Category I AIFs invest in early-stage initiatives, start-ups, social ventures, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), infrastructure, or other sectors/areas deemed socially or economically acceptable by the government or regulators. SME funds, venture capital funds, infrastructure funds, social venture funds, and other such AIFs are included in Category I AIF investments. AIFs fall under this category since they are expected to generate beneficial economic spillover effects. This category includes funds for which the SEBI, the Government of India (GOI), or other Indian regulators may consider granting incentives or concessions.

Category II AIF

Category II AIFs are those that do not come under Category I or III and do not borrow or leverage for anything other than day-to-day operational needs, as defined by the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012. This category of AIF covers debt or private equity funds that do not get any special incentives or concessions from the government of India or any other regulator. Real estate funds, private equity funds (PE funds), distressed asset funds, and other types of funds are all classified as Category II AIFs.

Category III AIF

Category III AIFs are those that use complex or diverse trading methods and leverage, as well as investments in listed or unlisted derivatives. This category includes open-ended AIFs such as hedge funds or funds that trade for short-term returns, as well as other similar funds that get no specific concessions or incentives from the GOI or any other regulator.

Key considerations to make while making an investment in an AIF

Before making an investment in AIF’s it is advised to consider the following points:

Legal and regulatory framework

Do any special regimes or provisions apply to specific types of alternative investment funds? Under the AIF Regulations, an AIF can seek registration in either Category I, Category II, or Category III. Category I: The stated objective is to provide certain benefits to Category I AIFs, which include AIFs that invest in: start-ups or early-stage ventures; social ventures or small and medium-sized enterprises; infrastructure; or such other sectors as the government considers are socially and/or economically desirable. In case of breach of the AIF Regulations and/or the FEMA Regulations, both SEBI and the Reserve Bank of India have the powers to take action against the AIF, the manager of the AIF, and the sponsor of the AIF, and their respective promoters. SEBI has wide powers under the SEBI Act and AIF Regulations, including the power to conduct inspections, searches, and seizures, to impose penalties, and to issue other orders, such as an order barring an errant person from accessing the capital markets. Specifically, about AIFs, SEBI has signed bilateral MoUs with securities market regulators of 27 member states of the European Union/European Economic Area concerning consultation, cooperation, and the exchange of information relating to the supervision of managers of AIFs.

Authorization and permissions

Is the AIF authorized or licensed in your jurisdiction? As per the AIF Regulations, no entity or person shall act as an AIF without obtaining a certificate of registration from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. To obtain this registration, the AIF must file the necessary declarations and the requisite application with SEBI. If the AIF is to be set up as a trust, the indenture of trust must be duly created under the Trusts Act and registered under the Registration Act, 1908. Its AIF manager and sponsor must fulfil the ‘fit and proper criteria; either the AIF manager or the sponsor must have the necessary infrastructure and manpower to effectively discharge their obligations and duties towards the functioning of the applicant AIF; the key investment team of the AIF manager of the applicant AIF should have adequate experience in advising or managing the pools of capital and possess the relevant professional qualifications as prescribed in the AIF Regulations. They must also simultaneously pay the non-refundable application and registration fees as specified in the Second Schedule of the AIF Regulations.

Marketing considerations

Under the AIF Regulations, AIFs can be marketed only through private placement by the issuance of an information memorandum. Units of an AIF can be listed on stock exchanges only after the final close of the AIF or its scheme, and subject to a minimum tradable lot of INR 10 million. There are no specific authorization requirements for the marketing of an AIF; however, the AIF Regulations are evolving and the Securities and Exchange Board of India is seeking industry feedback on regulating the fees of brokers and placement agents of AIFs, as well as imposing a standardized private placement memorandum format for new AIFs and schemes.

Indian entities such as banks, insurance companies, and pension funds are subject to the restrictions prescribed by their sectoral regulators concerning investment in AIF units; hence their investments must comply with these regulations over and above compliance with the AIF Regulations. The marketing materials for AIFs must satisfy the requirements as specified in the AIF Regulations. Further, the AIF Regulations prescribe that the AIF cannot have more than 1,000 investors and each investor must make a minimum commitment of INR 10 million or INR 2.5 million in the case of employees of the sponsor or AIF manager.

Only sophisticated investors can invest in an AIF since each investor must make a minimum commitment of INR 10 million in an AIF.

Investment process

At least two-thirds of their investible funds must be invested in unlisted equity shares or equity-linked instruments of a venture capital undertaking or in companies listed or proposed to be listed on a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) exchange; and

Not more than one-third of their investible funds must be invested in:

The initial public offering of a venture capital undertaking proposed to be listed;
Debt instruments of a venture capital undertaking; preferential allotment of equity or equity-linked instruments of a listed company;
Equity or equity-linked instruments of a financially weak company – that is, a company whose accumulated losses had eroded more than 50% of its net worth as at the beginning of the previous financial year; or
Special purpose vehicles which are created by the fund to facilitate investment following the AIF Regulations. In terms of investment restrictions, a general diversification restriction is imposed whereby Category I and Category II AIFs can invest only the maximum of 25% of their ‘investible funds’ in a single portfolio company; and
Category III AIFs are further restricted investing a maximum of 10% of their investible funds in single portfolio investment.

At least 75% of their investible funds must be invested in unlisted securities or partnership interests of venture capital undertakings, or investee companies or special purpose vehicles which are engaged in or formed to operate, develop, or hold infrastructure projects. At least 75% of their investible funds must be invested in unlisted securities or partnership interests of venture capital undertakings or investee companies which are SMEs, or in companies listed on an SME exchange.

Tax considerations

The Indian Income Tax Act, 1961 has accorded tax pass-through status to Category I and II AIFs incorporated in India as a trust, limited liability partnership, body corporate, or company.

Category III AIFs: While Category I and II AIFs have been conferred with tax pass-through status, Category III AIFs are not afforded such tax relief under the Income Tax Act.

Under the Income Tax Act, where the beneficiaries are identifiable with their shares being determinate, the trustee of the trust is taxed, as a ‘representative assessee’, such taxes as would be recoverable only from the investors it represents, as if the income arising out of investments made directly by the investors. Managers and advisers are not governed by any separate tax regime and are taxed under the same provisions as apply to other resident entities.

The profits distributed by an LLP to its partners are taxed only in the hands of the LLP, as part of its income, and the partners of the LLP need not pay any additional tax on receipt of such profits. India has incorporated into law, in its entirety, the internationally accepted reporting standard under the Common Reporting Standard, and has also signed an inter-governmental agreement with the United States for the implementation of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act rules. Concerning cross-border funds, the typical strategy adopted is to set up the offshore pooling vehicle in a tax-favourable jurisdiction that has better tax implications for capital gains or lower withholding tax.

Conclusion

According to the most recent data available with market regulator SEBI, AIFs made a total net investment of Rs. 2 lakh crores at the end of March 2021, compared to Rs. 1.53 lakh crore at the end of the previous fiscal. AIFs are divided into three categories according to the SEBI criterion. Venture capital funds, angel funds, SME funds, social venture capital funds, and infrastructure funds are all included in Category I AIF. Private equity (PE) funds, real estate funds, distressed asset funds, debt funds, and funds of funds are all included under Category II AIF. Hedge funds and PIPE funds are examples of Category III AIFs, which trade to create short-term profits. There are over 750 AIFs registered with the market regulator SEBI. Many alternative investments provide significantly greater returns relative to traditional investments. Also, the availability of a wide range of alternative investments makes them a viable option despite the investor’s risk tolerance or perceptions of the market.

Investing in AIF’s requires a lot of consideration.

References

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The function of the American uniform commercial code

By

Rachit Garg

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November 17, 2021

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This article has been written by D.Priya, pursuing a Diploma in Cyber Law, FinTech Regulations and Technology Contract from LawSikho. It has been edited by Smriti Katiyar (Associate, LawSikho).

Table of Contents

Introduction

UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) is a legal instrument governing and legalizing specific business contracts. It Merges regulations from various laws concerning commercial transactions. UCC is not a federal law, but a uniformly adopted state legislation. This is a comprehensive set of laws that govern and legalize specific business contracts.

In 1942, the ULC and the American Law Institute joined and combined all the components of commercial laws together in a comprehensive Uniform Commercial Code that was offered to the states for their consideration in 1951. Pennsylvania was the first state to adopt the UCC in 1953, and other states followed. .

The UCC upholds the philosophy of harmonizing commercial law and commercial transactions. Achieving uniformity throughout the country makes it easier to uphold the law even when there are multiple jurisdictions involved in a dispute. The uniform commercial code is a United States Code that has been adopted by most of the states.

But UCC is not adopted by all the states in America. It is not the mandatory code that has to be followed by all states but rather an optional code that can be adopted by the states if they wish to , and every state has its own procedure to adopt UCC. Even though the adoption of the code is not necessary, the major reason to adopt this code is the wide commercial transaction crisis, especially if the transaction is inter-state in nature. So, the government has decided to have uniformly adopted state legislation to overcome the inter-state commercial crisis and to standardize the business law in commercial transactions.

Important provisions and its functions

The UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) is organized into nine articles, with each article governing a separate area of the law. Below are the important provisions:

General provisions (Article-1)

Article 1 was last revised in 2001. This Article explains the general definitions and the way to interpret the provisions. This Article affects every transaction that is governed by the UCC, that includes sale of goods, transfer of negotiable instrument or check, commercial electronic fund transfer, letter of credit, warehouse receipt, bill of landing, transfer of investment security, credit transaction. It mainly binds other articles into one code and it is very important to keep it updated and consistent with the other provisions to have a smooth economic function in the American economy.

Sales (Article-2)

The 1951 version of this article governs the transactions related to the sale of the goods, and it is not applicable to transactions in the form of an unconditional contract to sell when the only intention is for security. Further, this article affects t any statute regulating sales to consumers, farmers or other specified classes of buyers.

Goods are basically those that are identified when the contract is formed and can be moved. For example, pencil, car, and computers are termed as “goods”. Whereas real estate, services, intangibles such as intellectual property will not come under the definition of “goods”. It mainly deals with merchants; a merchant is a person who regularly deals with selling a specific type of product and has wide and special knowledge about those goods.

When we compare the general contract rules and UCC rules, we will see a significant number of changes in UCC, such as a firm offer. The value in exchange for a promise can keep the offer open or else the offer can be withdrawn, whereas the firm offer concept is liberal in UCC rules.

Next is the contract acceptance, the “mirror image” rule is diluted and liberal in UCC when the additional terms are accepted by the offeree even though the “mirror image” rule is not satisfied, the additional term will be considered as the proposed additions to the contract, but will not become part of the existing contact, the exception to this rule is if both the parties are merchants.

The next difference between general contract rules and UCC rules is that of “Gap Filler” Rules, in general contract rules, it is required that the parties to a contract have mutual assent to the key elements but whereas in UCC rules, it enables the party to enforce the contract even without the important terms in the agreement. For example, a party may not know the exact price, payment terms, and date of delivery but still, the UCC rules allow the contract to be enforceable based on the default rules set in the UCC.

Lease (Article-2a)

This article deals with the lease of personal property. It was added to UCC in 1987 and amended in 1990. Lease is defined as “a transfer of the right to possession and use of goods for a term in return for consideration”, some of the types of leases are consumer lease and finance lease.

Bank Deposits (Article-4)

Article 4 was revised in 1990 and amended in 2002. This Article explains the liability of a bank for actions or non-action pertaining to an item handled by the bank for presentment, payment or collection and automated inter-bank collection.

Fund Transfers (Article-4a)

This Article deals with Fund transfer. Electronic Funds Transfers are an extremely important payment system in the current scenario. The major three parties are the bank, the beneficiary, and the bank’s customer. This is applicable to payment orders by the originator to any payments order issued by the bank for presentment, payment, or collection. 2012 Amendments to section 108 explain that this Article applies to a remittance transfer that is not an electronic funds transfer under the Federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA).

Letter Of Credit (Article-5)

This Article sets out certain rights and duties that arise out of Letter of Credit transactions, which are issued by a bank or other financial institution to its business customers in order to ease trade. There was an update made in the Article in 1995 to address advances in technology and modern business practices.

Bulk Transfers (Article-6)

Article 6 was drafted as a response to this “bulk sale risk” in order to prevent fraudulent bulk sales. Because of the advancement of technology in providing fast, accurate, and more complete credit histories, there is no evidence that fraudulent bulk sales took place, thus ULC and ALI recommended all states to revise or repeal Article 6 in 1989.

Documents Of Title (Article-7)

Article 7 explains the Rights and Liability of the bailor and bailee. The documents of the title include a bill of landing, dock receipt, warehouse receipt, dock warrant, and an order for the delivery of goods and other documents used for commercial trade. In 2003, revised UCC Article 7 updated the Original UCC 7 to give way for the development of electronic documents of title.

Investment securities (article-8)

Article 8 deals with shares, equity interests issued by an entity that is registered as an investment company. whereas it excludes insurance policy, endorsement policy, or annuity contract issued by an insurance company.

Secured Transactions (Article-9)

A security interest is an interest in assets that secures payment or performance of an obligation, in the secured transaction the borrower grants a security interest over its assets in favour of the lender. There are two types of security interests mainly possessory and non-possessory. The secured party has possession of the collateral in the possessory security interest and the debtor maintains possession of the collateral in non-possessory security interest. Most security interests are non-possessory because the debtor usually wants to use the property which is being used as collateral.

Article 9 governs security transactions in personal property, which includes consignment, Goods, Inventory, Equipment, a sale of accounts, payment intangibles, promissory notes, an agricultural lien, a transaction that creates a security interest in personal property. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and United States territories have enacted it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is clear that the UCC has many advantages and disadvantages. One of the major disadvantages is that even though it is adopted by 50 states, it is adopted based on the requirement of that state, it does not guarantee the originality of the code, thus there will be differences in each state and the sole purpose of achieving uniformity will be lost. The UCC is not governed as such, If any dispute arises between two states due to the non-uniformity of the code, the adoption of the code becomes a failure and the common law or the state law may come into force.

Apart from that, the UCC is not internationally recognized as it may not support international trade, as we all know that in this current generation most of the transactions are done online and worldwide. Therefore, in order to achieve the goal of uniformity, it is important to make changes to enhance the code to adapt to technological advancement and to make necessary changes so that all states may adopt the code without making any changes. Thus, paving the way for the uniform code not only for the commercial transactions between inter-states but also for international transactions.

References

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skills.

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A primer on amendments made to AIF regulations

By

Rachit Garg

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November 17, 2021

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This article is written by Nandeesh Nanda from Symbiosis Law School NOIDA. This article discusses the notice issued by SEBI for the reform in AIF regulations, dated 5 May 2021.

Table of Contents

Introduction

AIF or Alternative Investment Fund as the name suggests is an alternative to the conventional investment approach. It is different from stocks, debts, and similar securities.

The Alternative Investment Fund is a privately formed fund that has been created to let investors invest in pre-planned defined policies. These investors can be both Indian as well as foreign and it takes place through private participation.

What are the AIF regulations

The notification of the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 (“AIF Regulations”) on May 21, 2012, led to the approval and validation of alternate investment funds. AIF’s are regulated by SEBI ( Securities and Exchange Board of India) and such ventures must get themself registered. The collection of the funds can only occur on a private basis and not a public call such as for the issue of shares.

AIFs are regulated as per the Regulation Act of SEBI, 2012. It is pertinent to be noted that although AIF seems similar to the lines of mutual funds they are not governed by SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999, or any other regulations of the Board to regulate fund management activities.

An AIF can take any legal form and can be incorporated as a company, a trust, an LLP ( Limited Liability Partnership), or even a body corporate. The trend reveals that most of the AIFs that are currently registered in SEBI have been established in the form of a trust.

The maximum limit of investors that the Regulation Act allows is 1000 investors, however, if the AIF has been incorporated as a company, then the Companies Act 2013 comes into the picture and directs the provision of the members. Further, if the AIF is raising funds from its investor, then the AIF shall not accept an investment of less than one crore rupees. Also if the investors are employees or directors of the AIF, then the minimum limit is Rs.20 lakh .

Now let us discuss the different categories of AIF and how applicants can enroll themselves under these categories.

There are basically three categories of AIF and they are discussed as follows.

Category I

In accordance with Regulation 3(4), category I includes those AIFs that invest money of their private investors in sprouting or early-stage ventures such as startups, or areas where regulators or the government seems economically or socially desirable. Certain sub-funds under category I are – Venture Capital funds, Angel funds, SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) funds, and infrastructure funds. Each sub-fund has its own minimum investment and a lock-in period. The lock-in period refers to the stipulated period within which the investments cannot be sold or redeemed. Some of these sub-funds carry a specific requirement that makes them differ from others such as 10 years of senior professional management role in case of angel funds, or 75% collective investment in the SME funds.

Before explaining category II let’s skip to category III

Category III

Category III is considered to be an open-ended investment. It is a varied investment setup that invests in listed and unlisted derivatives. Derivatives simply put means shares, bonds, commodities, market indexes, currencies, and interest rates. They are less regulated and the government refrains from providing concessions or any incentives in these funds. These funds are mentioned in Regulation 3(4)(c).

Various types of funds are registered under Category III and the most common ones are Hedge funds and PIPE (Private Investment in Public Equity) funds. Hedge funds are subjected to higher market volatility or variability and hence they produce high returns. Hedge funds are costly as the management team charges 19% of the investment as fees and also secures a stake in the profit up to 20%. PIPE or Private Investment in Public Equity invests the funds into small and medium businesses. These investments are not secondary investments similar to shares and hence require less paperwork and less control. They are quick and include fewer formalities than an issue of share by a company. The fund managers tend to buy shares at a discounted price and help in the capital formation of the business.

Category II

Funds that do not fall in any of the above categories are termed category II funds. These funds don’t buy shares or borrowings, the funds are used to provide money for operational activities of other businesses such as real estate funds, private equity funds, funds for distressed assets, funds for funds, etc. They are mentioned in Regulation 3(4)(b).

What are the amendments made to it

Recently Alternate Investment Funds’ regulation has undergone a series of changes. SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2021 (Amendment Regulations) were released on 5 May 2021 which had led to some major changes and has allowed flexibility for the investors to be associated with multiple categories mentioned in the earlier part of the article, also a separate code of conduct has been formulated for better and professional functioning of the AIFs. There have been three major amendments after the notice of 5 May 2021 and they are as follows :

Flexible investments
Formal recognition of investment committee

Introduction of a separate code of conduct Flexible investments

According to the recent amendments, AIFs can freely make investments in other AIFs. Earlier , AIFs had to choose either to invest in an investee company or another AIF. This made them strictly adhere to the categories and be associated with them, however, this segmentation has been erased and instead of opting for one exclusively, AIFs can take both these courses of action. However, there should be proper disclosure under the Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) and with the consent of at least two-thirds of unit holders by the value of their investment in the AIF in terms of Regulation 9(2) of the AIF Regulations. Further, a list of information that needs to be broadcasted in the PPM has been mentioned, if the AIF invests in another AIF. The second development is inculcating Non-Banking financial companies (NBFC) into the scope of venture capital undertaking. The definition of venture capital undertaking, which is a category I investment, mentioned only companies providing goods or services or manufacturing. However, this definition has been broadened to include non-banking financial companies too.

Formal Recognition of Investment Committee

Investment committees have been duly active in aiding AIFs for their investment decisions and better functioning, SEBI acknowledged their existence by an amendment on October 19, 2020, however, the recent developments have turned out to be more empowering.

The new amendment makes it mandatory to include the IC ( Investment Committee ) in the AIFs Placement Memorandum. Also earlier due to its ambiguous status, the investment committee and investment manager were kept on a similar pedestal, however, a separate structure has been created to hold the Investment committee accountable, providing it with more independence.

Further, if the members of the committee are externally recruited and are not mentioned in the Placement Memorandum, then the consent of 75% of investor members is required.

Introduction of a separate code of conduct

These are given under Fourth Schedule, SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012 [Regulation 20(1) and 20(9)]. Just like mutual funds, AIF is also now regulated by a code of conduct which is divided into various instructions that need to be followed by executives at all levels. The code is for various people that are either working in the AIF or simply associated with it. The code of conduct is drafted to address :

(a) The AIF

(b) The manager and Key Management Personnel (KMP) of the manager and of the AIF

(c) The members of the IC, trustee/directors/designated partners of the AIF.

Most of the code of conduct is similar to the one for mutual funds. An important exercise that the code of conduct promotes is transparency to the investors. According to the regulations, AIFs are required to frequently provide investors with crucial information, fund documents that have been promised as per the Private Placement Memorandum. The code of conduct also draws out the duties of Managers and Key Managerial Personnel (KMP); the code also tends to establish a system to resolve the conflict of interest among them.

Impact of those amendments

Collectively, such amendments were required to increase the credibility and reliability of AIFs as an investing vehicle.

The flexibility to amalgamate two categories have opened a wider scope of policies that AIFs can offer to their investors. With the change in a few definitions, new investing arenas are opened.
Recognition of the Internal Committees has added a scope for deliberation and internal communication while aking decisions. The word ‘investment’ has been replaced and now the regulation includes the word ‘decisions of AIF’, this further expands the authority of IC and lets it take decisions on the operational activities of the concerned AIF. The 75% percent consent of the members as mentioned in the above part of the article aims at harmony and impedes the possibility of conflict in the committee.

A separate code of conduct adds professionalism and work ethic to the system. Also, it was a much-needed reform so as to keep mutual funds and AIF on a similar footing. The code of conduct also illuminates the relationship of the manager and Key Managerial Personnel. Further, it is mentioned in the Fourth Schedule of the AIF Regulations that KMP need not be a CEO, MD, CIO and can be a person with an equivalent role. Such reforms show the versatile functioning of the AIF and will bring a positive response from sophisticated investors by winning their confidence.

Conclusion

AIF is an unexplored investment vehicle and with time SEBI has shifted its attention by reforming its Regulation Act and adhering to the advice given by various committees for better functioning of AIFs, one such being the Alternative Investment Policy Advisory Committee (AIPAC) under the chairmanship of Mr. Narayana Murthy in March 2015. Such active steps from SEBI keeps the investment arena a breeding ground for innovation. AIFs lacked viability due to a lack of code of conduct and the strict adherence to the existing categories that required a reform. It is still a long road and a cyclic submission of AIPAC reports (2015,2016,2017) is a testimony to the fact that AIF is an emerging investment site.There has been a shift from conventional investment approaches and a genuine attempt from the government bodies to enhance the functioning of unconventional investment platforms builds an acceptance for such ventures.

References

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skills.

LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals, and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join:https://t.me/joinchat/J_0YrBa4IBSHdpuTfQO_sA

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Legal provisions in relation to substance abuse and selling of the same

By

Abanti Bose

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November 17, 2021

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This article is written by Sambhabi Dutta, pursuing Certificate Course in Introduction to Legal Drafting: Contracts, Petitions, Opinions & Articles from LawSikho. The article has been edited by Prashant Baviskar (Associate, LawSikho) and Smriti Katiyar (Associate, LawSikho).

Table of Contents

Substance abuse

The excessive use of a substance, especially alcohol or a drug is known as substance abuse. In India it is a crime to use any banned substance and also selling and consuming it is a criminal offence, and there is a huge penalty as well as a jail term. Substance abuse disrupts bodily functions and has numerous side effects. The most common substances used in India are alcohol, heroin, ganja, marijuana and cocaine. Substance abuse causes health problems like lack of interest in things, change in behaviour, no drive to take part in self-care, spending more time alone, appetite increasing or decreasing manifolds, sleeping at odd hours, having problems at work or with family, mood swings, strong desire to do substance abuse again

Which act deals with substance abuse in India?

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, was enacted with stringent provisions to curb this menace. The Act envisages a minimum term of 10 years imprisonment extendable to 20 years and fine of Rs. 1 lakh extendable up to Rs. 2 lakhs for the offenders. A comprehensive strategy involving specific programmes to bring about an overall reduction in the use of drugs has been evolved by the various government agencies and NGOs and is further supplemented by measures like education, counselling, treatment and rehabilitation programmes. Substance abuse can be addressed at the individual level, at the local level (state, national, etc.) and at the cross-national level. At the individual level, there has to be a synthesis of biological understanding with the exploration of background socio-cultural factors. At the national and cross-national level, there has to be a concerted effort of all the countries in managing the issue of substance abuse, taking into account the local socio-cultural and political scenarios.

Who is a drug addict?

A drug addict is a person who has a dependence on narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.

Any person who assists a narcotic trafficker or conceals narcotics on behalf of someone will be prosecuted as per the NDPS Act since he has complete knowledge that he has committed a crime or is about to commit a crime. This was held in R.V. Jakson (1997) 35 (2d) 331.

Substance abuse in India during COVID-19

In India, during the lockdown, there has been an immense rise in substance abuse especially in Punjab, which saw a 23% rise of drug addicts registered with the state government for receiving de-addiction treatment.

Statistics of drugs abuse in India

Over 2,300 people died due to drug overdose from 2017-19 in India with the highest number of such fatalities recorded in the age group of 30-45 years, according to the data by the National Crime Records Bureau.

The highest number of deaths from 2017-19 was recorded in the age group of 30-45 years at 784 and 624 people died in the age bracket of 18-30 years and 550 people died in the age group of 45-60 years due to drug overdose.

Drugs cases in India

Total cases rose by 74 per cent in the decade ending 2020 over the decade ending 2010. Seizure of drugs in 2020 included 8.5 lakh kg of cannabis-based drugs and 2.99 lakh kg of opium-based drugs. Cocaine, psychotropic substances and medical preparations were among the other drugs seized in India.

Introduction to drugs consumption in India

In today’s time, drug menace has increased a lot and it has taken a toll on the young generation that is between 20-30 years. The major reason is due to high peer pressure and the high unemployment ratio in India due to Covid-19. A lot of the younger generation are selling banned substances and are disturbing peace and are in the process of committing a crime that is a punishable offence.

It is not easy to get bail but it is up to the prosecution to prove the nexus beyond a reasonable doubt. In NDPS even chat messages are considered as strong evidence to book the accused.

In India cases of NDPS have been on a rise and there is a need to curb the menace from the grassroots levels. In schools especially they must try to bring awareness on the consumption of drugs and the ill effects on their health as well as the overall functioning of their nervous system. There should be awareness campaigns in localities so that people get to know about the ill effects of drugs.

In our country, the NCB that is the Narcotics Control Bureau is the authoritative agency that has been given the power to deal with cases related to drugs and prosecute, arrest the accused and investigate the nexus between the accused and the drug peddlers. They can raid any premises if they feel that the premises are dealing with drugs or some rave party is occurring without permission and can arrest anyone without a warrant.

It is one of the strongest agencies in India which is there to punish the drug peddlers.

The recent two cases which have shocked the nation are:

In the first Sushant Singh case, Rhea Chakroborty got arrested and later released on Bail on the part of the consumption of drugs. She and a few others had been under the possession of drugs and had also sold drugs. The quantity had exceeded the amount and henceforth she was booked under NDPS Act.

The latest case is of Aryan Khan son of Sharukh khan. He is still in jail because the NCB feels that he is indirectly in possession of drugs. A few Whatsapp chats have been found by him and the drug peddlers. Aryan Khan was arrested on 3^rd October and since then his bail plea has been rejected by the lower court as well as the session’s court. The NCB is looking for other people who are involved in this nexus and Ananya Pandey, another Bollywood actress has come under the radar for the consumption and selling of drugs. She was also quizzed by NCB but since no nexus has been found she has not been arrested but her Whatsapp messages show that she tried to arrange drugs for Aryan khan and if found out that she is involved then even she might be arrested because it is a crime to arrange drugs for somebody else.

Legal provisions in relation to substance abuse and selling of the same

According to NDPS Act, Section 8 prohibits any person from cultivating any coca plant, opium poppy and any Cannabis plant. It can only be produced only for medical and scientific purposes. If any person procures then that person may be liable for prosecution and also a fine or a jail term may be imposed or both.

According to Section 15 if any person produces, possesses, transports poppy straw other than for scientific purposes then that person on the basis of gravity or quantity consumed may be put behind bars. If the quantity is small then the jail term will be of 1 year and a fine of RS 10,000 or both may be imposed.

If the quantity is less but greater than a small quantity then a jail term will be of 10 years and a fine of 1 Lakh may be imposed.

If it involves commercial quantity then imprisonment will be not less than 10 years and may extend to 20 years and a fine not less than 1 lakh but may be extended to 2 lakh may be imposed.

The court may for reasons impose a fine exceeding 2 lakh rupees.

In accordance with Section 16 if any person contravenes the quantity with respect to coca plant or coca leaves or cultivates, produces, possesses, sells, purchases, transports it either by interstate or by intrastate then a jail term of 10 years or with fine upto 1 lakhs will be imposed on that person.

According to Section 17 with respect to opium if any person manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases, transports opium then with respect to quantity the jail term and fine will be imposed.

If it involves a small quantity then 1 year imprisonment or fine 10,000 or with both.

If it involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity but greater than small quantity then jail term will be upto 10 years or with fine upto 1 lakh and if it involves commercial quantity then the jail term shall not be less than 10 years but extend to 20 years or fine upto 1 lakh but extend to 2 lakh.

The Court may for reasons impose a fine exceeding 2 lakh.

According to Section 18 if any person cultivates opium poppy or produces, manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases and transports these banned substances then with respect to the gravity of quantity the imprisonment and fine are given.

If it involves a small quantity then 1 year imprisonment or fine 10,000 or with both.

If it involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity but greater than small quantity then jail term shall not be less than 10 years but will extend to 20 years and fine not less than 1 lakh but may extend to 2 lakh.

The Court has the discretion to impose a fine exceeding 2 lakh or in any other case, which may extend to 10 years or with fine which may extend to 1 lakh.

According to Section 19 if any cultivator contravenes or without any sanction from the Central Government disposes of any part of opium then that person may be given a jail term of 10 years extend to 20 years and fine not less than 1 lakh but extend to 2 lakh.

The Court may for reasons impose a fine upto 2 lakh.

According to Section 20 if any person cultivates. Produces, manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases transports a Cannabis plant and Cannabis then a jail term of 10 years and fine upto 1 lakh if that person cultivates the Cannabis plant and other clauses then with respect to quantity the imprisonment and fine is imposed.

If the quantity is of small quantity then jail term of 1 year and fine upto 10,000 or with both.

If it involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years and fine upto 1 lakh may be imposed.

If it involves commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years but it might extend to 20 years and fine upto 1 lakh which may extend to 2 lakh.

The Court may impose a fine upto 2 lakhs.

According to Section 21 if any person manufactures any banned substance or prepares any banned substance or possesses, sells, purchases, transports then with respect to quantity the person will be arrested and prosecuted as per the Law.

If the quantity is of small quantity then jail term will be of 1 year and fine upto 10,000 or with both.

If it involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years and fine upto 1 lakh may be imposed.

If it involves commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years but it might extend to 20 years and fine upto 1 lakh which may extend to 2 lakh.

The Court may for reasons impose a fine exceeding 2 lakhs.

According to Section 22 whoever contravenes any provision of this Act or any rule or order made or condition of the license granted thereunder, manufactures, possesses, sells, purchases, transports, imports, inter-state, exports, interstate or uses any Psychotropic substance shall be punishable as per the gravity of the quantity.

If the quantity is of small quantity then jail term of 1 year and fine upto 10,000 or with both.

If it involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years and fine upto 1 lakh may be imposed.

If it involves commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years but it might extend to 20 years and fine upto 1 lakh which may extend to 2 lakh.

The Court may for reasons impose a fine exceeding 2 lakhs.

Section 23 – If any person illegally imports, exports or transhipment any narcotics drugs and Psychotropic substances then with respect to quantity punishment and imprisonment is imposed.

If the quantity is of small quantity then jail term of 1 year and fine upto 10,000 or with both.

If it involves quantity lesser than commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years and fine upto 1 lakh may be imposed.

If it involves commercial quantity then a jail term of 10 years but it might extend to 20 years and fine upto 1 lakh which may extend to 2 lakh.

The Court may for reasons impose a fine exceeding 2 lakhs.

According to Section 24 whoever deals with narcotics and psychotropic substances or contravenes section 12 and if any person without the permission of the Central Government deals with it then a jail term upto 10 years and extension to 20 years and fine upto 1 lakh which may be extended to 2 lakhs.

The Court may for some reason impose a fine exceeding 1 lakh.

According to Section 26 if any person without any documents procures any banned substances or without any license has kept these at their house then that person will be imprisoned with a term upto 3 years or with fine or with both.

According to Section 27 if any person consumes any narcotic drug or psychotropic substance which is cocaine, morphine, diacety-l-morphine then that person will be imprisoned for a term which may extend to a year or with a fine which may extend to 20,000 or with both.

If it is other than these prescribed then imprisonment upto 6 months or fine upto 10,000 or with both.

Section 27 A- If any person indulges in financing the banned substance, directly or indirectly then that person might be imprisoned not less than 10 years but which may extend to 20 years and fine not less than 1 lakh but may extend to 2 lakh.

The Court may for reasons impose a fine exceeding 2 lakh.

According to Section 27 B if any person contravenes the provision of Section 8 A then imprisonment is not less than 3 years but might extend to 10 years and also fine may be imposed.

According to Section 30 if any person prepares any banned substance or is punishable under Sections 19, 24 and 27A then that person shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one half of the minimum term but may extend to one- half of the maximum term and fine not less than one half of the minimum amount (if any) of fine, but may extend to one- half of the maximum amount of fine.

The Court may impose a higher fine as it wishes and it is the discretion power of the Judge to decide.

According to Section 43 if the officer of NCB feels that in any public place there is selling of drugs taking place then that person will be searched and if drugs are found or that person was trying to sell those drugs to that person then those items will be seized and appropriate punishment will be given as per the learned Court.

According to Section 38 if any offence has been committed by a company, then each and every person will be responsible and it shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to have proceeded accordingly. All of them will be booked as per the quantity and all of them will be prosecuted as per the NDPS act.

If there is any information that any premises or any place where people are engaging themselves in drugs and the persons have knowledge that they are involving themselves in drugs and are selling drugs then the NCB without any prior information can raid the premises and can arrest them there and then and can also seize the drugs and the premises will be closed.

The selling of drugs will also lead to prosecution. A hefty fine and a jail term will be imposed on that person. It is considered a crime to sell drugs to anyone and if someone else is selling drugs on behalf of someone then even that person will be booked under the NDPS Act.

In India selling and procuring drugs is a wrong act and it attracts criminal liability. It is a very serious offence and henceforth it is not that easy to get bail.

If any person does or uses any banned substances which are banned by the Central Government then that person will be prosecuted and adequate punishment will be given.

If the gravity of the selling of a substance is less than the prescribed limit then the Court may deem fit that the person is given a chance to be provided with community service or rehabilitation or counselling to be provided to him/her instead of Judicial/ Police custody.

All the officers of the NCB have the same power as that of a Police Officer and they can arrest any suspicious person if they feel that the person is involved in drugs or is a drug peddler.

There is a law that deals with drug peddlers and drug addicts and this is the only way the menace of drugs can be stopped in India.

In India, if a person is already convicted and that person was out on bail and still he had again committed the same offence then the death penalty is imposed on that person so that the crime becomes a deterrent to other people who want to commit that same crime.

Drugs in news in India

In recent times the drug menace has increased quite high in India.

Drug peddler held from Pune railway station with mephedrone worth Rs 2 lakh:- A team of Anti- Narcotics cell received a tip-off about a person who was selling contraband drugs in the Pune Railway Station area and the bus stand located next to it.
In Maharashtra, 22 people were booked for consuming drugs at Igatpuri villas.
In Bangalore, a gang that grew Hydro Ganga using artificial lights were arrested and drugs worth Rs 1 lakh crore were seized.
In Mumbai a major drug cartel busted in Bandra-Kurla, 3 people were detained by NCB.
In recent case drugs from Pakistan worth Rs 300 crore were seized in Gujarat’s Dwarka District– One person has been arrested because he had concealed a large number of drugs inside the bags and was found in possession of drugs which is a crime under the NDPS act.
In Delhi, 3 people were held for importing drugs worth Rs 35 lakhs through the darknet.
Largest heroin haul in India: – Rs 21,000 crore worth of drugs seized at Gujarat’s Mundra Port.

The Indian laws are very strict with respect to selling drugs and proper action has been taken against the accused.

Conclusion

The drug peddlers are not spared and appropriate punishment is given to them by the Court and this is the only way our country will be freed from the menace of drugs.

The NDPS Act has undertaken several viable measures for the prevention and punishment for all drug-related offences and drug trafficking, however, there still needs to be more provisions for reformation as far as this Act and its provisions are concerned. Despite the fact that illuminating presences and society representatives can be brought within to recommend and evaluate changes in the drug policy, these measures have not yet been put into utilization and a thorough inspection of the provisions of the Act reiterate the fact that the punishments are deemed to be more cruel with little chance of reformative action or rehabilitation. The transformation of the NDPS Act itself is the principal walk to be taken if the Government genuinely tries to reaffirm its dedication towards eradicating India’s growing drug problem.

References

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An analysis of the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Service Conditions) Bill, 2020

By

Diva Rai

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November 17, 2021

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This article is written by Anusha Misra from NALSAR University of Law. This article evaluates the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Service Conditions) Bill, 2020.

Table of Contents

Introduction

India might be one of the leading countries in the world in terms of the backlog of court cases. Even after some of the best efforts made by the government to improve the situation, it is still like a merry-go-round. One such effort was the system of tribalization which was meant to reduce the burden of courts and provide a speedy redressal to the people. Indeed, some tribunals like National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission are helping the cause, but tribunals like Intellectual Property Appellate Body (IPAB) are increasing the burden on the judicial system. Thus, a constant demand was made to the government by many IP enthusiasts to ban the same.

On 13th February 2021, the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Tribunals Reforms Bill’) was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister, Ms. Nirmila Sitharaman. The Tribunals Reforms Bill was introduced to abolish certain tribunals and authorities and to provide a mechanism for filing appeals directly to the commercial court or the High Courts, as the case may be.

Noteworthy, the Government of India had begun the process of rationalisation of tribunals in 2015. Leading the path of revision, by the Finance Act, 2017, seven tribunals were abolished/merged based on their functional similarity, henceforth reducing the total number from 26 to 19.

It seeks to dissolve certain existing appellate bodies and transfer their functions (such as adjudication of appeals) to other existing judicial bodies.

The Finance Act, 2017 empowered the Central government to notify rules on qualifications of members, terms and conditions of their service, and composition of search-cum-selection committees for 19 tribunals (such as Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal). The Tribunal Reforms Bill amends the 2017 Act to include provisions related to the composition of search-cum-selection committees and the term of office of members in the Act itself. The rationale followed was to close down tribunals that were not necessary and merge tribunals with similar functions. Further, the Bill incorporates the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission set up under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 inside the domain of the Finance Act.

The need for tribunals

The right to equity is a fundamental and natural piece of the essential construction of the Constitution. Effective admittance to equity would thus be able to be viewed as the most fundamental prerequisite, ensuring lawful rights. The tribunals settle questions in less time and in a practical way, making a useful environment for the foundation of tribunals.

As per the suggestions of the Swaran Singh Committee, Part XIV-A named ‘Councils’ was included in the Constitution (Forty-Second Amendment) Act, 1976, which involved the arrangement of ‘Authoritative Tribunals’ under Article 323A and ‘Courts for other issues under Article 323B.

The two courts and councils are set up by the State and are endowed with legal capacities separated into simply authoritative or leader obligations. The courts will undoubtedly follow the recommended methods set somewhere around the law, yet the councils are not limited to them. They have the comfort of articulating the judgment as indicated by the detail and conditions of each case.

Proposition of reforms

The 2017 Rules were overturned by the Supreme Court in November 2019. The central government was ordered by the Court to reformulate the Rules.

Following are the proposed basic changes figured by the commission:

In request to provide simple access to justice to residents, particularly those in rural areas, tribunals should have seats in various pieces of the country.
Qualification of Judges of the tribunals ought to be similar to the qualification of the High Court judges.
Appointment, administration conditions, and residency of the Judges, Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Members ought to be in a uniform and autonomous way.
With the intention to guarantee consistency in issues of every one of the tribunals, the Ministry of Law and Justice, a solitary nodal office, ought to be made dependable to screen the working of the tribunals.

The previously mentioned changes brought in the need to cut down the pendency of cases under the watchful eye of the higher courts, and raise the effectiveness of the tribunals. These proposed basic changes have been valued however lamentably couldn’t have been carried out in reality.

Tribunals superseding High Courts

The reason for establishing tribunals was to outperform the significant lacuna prevalent in the Indian legal system. The Tribunals were never settled to override the forces of the High Courts.

The Law Commission of India, in its 215th Report (2008), laid down the need to establish tribunals to help overcome the burden of cases for the High Courts. Administrative Tribunals were viewed as the ‘alternative mechanism’ to guarantee admittance to equity which is put at the grassroots level.

Transfer of functions of key appellate bodies as proposed under the Bill

Appellate body	Role	Proposed entity
Appellate Tribunal under the Cinematograph Act, 1952	Adjudication of appeals against the Board of Film Certification	High Court
Appellate Board under the Trade Marks Act, 1999	Adjudication of appeals against orders of the Registrar	High Court
Appellate Board under the Copyright Act, 1957	Adjudication of certain disputes and appeals against orders of the Registrar of Copyright	Commercial Court or the Commercial Division of a High Court*
Authority for Advance Rulings under the Customs Act, 1962	Adjudication of appeals against orders of the Customs Authority for advance rulings	High Court
Appellate Board under The Patents Act, 1970	Adjudication of appeals against decisions of the Controller on certain matters like application of patents	High Court
Airport Appellate Tribunal under the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994	Adjudication of:disputes arising from the disposal of properties left on airport premises by unauthorised occupants, andfor appeals against order of an eviction officer	Central government, for disputes arising from the disposal of properties left on airport premises by unauthorised occupants.High Court, for appeals against orders of an eviction officer.
Airport Appellate Tribunal under the Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, 2002	Adjudication of appeals against orders of the Highway Administration on matters including grant of lease or licence of highway land, removal of unauthorised occupation, and prevention of damage to highway	Civil Court#
Appellate Tribunal under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001	Adjudication of appeals against certain orders of Registrar or Plant Varieties and Farmer Rights Authority	High Court
Appellate Board under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999	Adjudication of appeals against orders of the Registrar	High Court

Highlights of the Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021

The target of the foundation of tribunals was to outperform the significant lacuna in the Indian overall set of laws in the domain of the lawful proverb ‘Lex Dilationes Semper Exhorret’, which means that the law consistently detests delays. It was additionally of the assessment that for the effective working of the tribunals it is vital that a free single nodal service can likewise be set up which will regulate the direction of the Tribunals.

In addition, the Bill reduces the term or residency of the Chairpersons and Members of specific councils of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Securities Appellate Tribunal, Debt Recovery Tribunal, National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, and the Debt Recovery Appellate Tribunal, Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, and Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

Further, the Bill has revised the qualification for a resident to be chosen as a Chairperson or Member of a Tribunal, consequently, making it obligatory that such an individual who has not reached the age of 55 years will not be qualified. Besides, the Tribunal Reforms Bill presents a Search-cum-Selection Committee which will be composed of the chairperson, three members and one member secretary. Out of three members, two members will be named by the Government of India who will be designated Secretaries. Moreover, it makes the chairperson and member of the Tribunal qualified for re-arrangement.

Latest shot in the long-running battle between the federal government and the Supreme Court concerning tribunals

In February 2020, the central government notified a new set of rules: the Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal and other Authorities (Qualifications, Experience and other Conditions of Service of Members) Rules, 2020. These were again challenged before the Supreme Court in the matter of Madras Bar Association vs. Union of India (2020). The apex court proposed substantive amendments to the 2020 Rules in its judgement, which was delivered on November 27 last year, including increasing the term of office of tribunal members to five years, allowing for re-appointment of members (subject to upper age limits), and allowing advocates with ten years’ experience to be appointed as judicial members within tribunals.

The Court also suggested that a National Tribunals Commission be established as an independent organisation to oversee the operation of tribunals. The national government introduced the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha in February this year to overturn the apex court’s decision. The central government promulgated the Ordinance in April after the bill failed to pass during the Parliament’s Budget session.

Reform or downfall – a critical analysis of the Bill

The cycle of legitimization of courts began by the Government of India in 2015, as mentioned at the beginning. According to the central government, the proposed changes are defined to assist the courts. It recommended that the public exchequer’s weight be decreased on the basis of the courts’ framework and supporting staff. As indicated by the public authority, in different areas the courts have not been productive in conveying quicker Justice.

Is there a need to establish tribunals

The Bill has prompted long-standing discussions among individuals from different circles. One of the basic concerns is with respect to the specialization of the courts. It’s undeniably true that tribunals mean specialization of the subject. Regulatory Tribunals perform ‘half breed capacities’. They are moved by method and skill to deal with the intricate issues. In an advanced society, certain perplexing issues can’t generally be settled by applying universal standards. Authoritative Tribunals assume a compelling part of remembering the details and public interest while settling the issues.

It is plausible that the High Courts and Commercial Courts face issues in taking care of plenty of cases that need specialized help in a predefined subject. This would prompt an expansion in the pendency of cases and again defeat the purpose of the Indian Legal System of addressing the necessities of the general public. The absence of judges in the Supreme Court and particularly in High Courts involves worry for quite a while.

Additionally, moving the forthcoming issue before the Appellate Tribunals to Commercial Courts and High Court, according to the proposed Bill, would bring in procedural changes as well. A Law Commission’s 245th Report (2014) prescribed that to manage the excess issue, the expansion of very capable and proficient adjudicators are needed to support the pace of removal of cases. In the present circumstance, abolishment of tribunals probably won’t be an immediate response as far as the rapid removal of cases is concerned.

While appreciating the accomplishment of the assessment councils, the Apex Court clarified that its prosperity roots from one of the numerous reasons that enrollment of individuals happen at a more youthful age which adds to the movement of their professions inside courts just as from courts to the High Courts.

This must be conceivable if young and merit-based residents are selected as individuals from the tribunals.

Conclusion

The consequence of prohibiting the Intellectual Property Appellate Board will be that individuals will again need to battle with the procedural laws of the courts. Likewise, as there will be no specialized individuals in the court during the mediation of the IP debates, the part of a well-qualified assessment will turn out to be vital.

To summarize the entire conversation, one might say that restricting IPAB is the right advance taken by the public authority as it was going about as an obstacle against the removal of IP questions. Notwithstanding, it will be intriguing to perceive how the legal executive will overcome the increment in the accumulation of cases. While appreciating the success of the tax tribunals, the Apex Court elucidated that its success roots from one of many reasons of recruitment of members take place at a younger age which contributes to the progression of their careers within tribunals as well as from tribunals to the High Courts.

This can only be possible if young and merit-based citizens are recruited as members of the Tribunals. As the current government is in the absolute majority, this bill will not face any difficulty in attaining the status of an Act in the upcoming days. The result of banning IPAB will be that people will again have to struggle with the procedural laws of the courts and the dispute between the parties will have longer life expectancy due to the trend of adjournments in the courts. Also, as there will be no technical members in the court during the adjudication of the IP disputes, the role of expert opinion will become very important.

To sum up the whole discussion, it can be said that banning IPAB is the right step taken by the government as it was acting as an impediment against the disposal of IP disputes. However, it will be interesting to see how the judiciary will cope up with the increase in the backlog of cases.

The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on February 13, 2021, proposing to abolish certain more tribunals and authorities and to provide for a mechanism to file an appeal directly to the Commercial Court or the High Courts, as the case may be. The Tribunals Reforms Bill, 2021, was approved by the Lok Sabha on August 3, 2021.

References

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Effect of arbitral awards on non-signatories to the agreement

By

Rachit Garg

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November 17, 2021

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service-agreement-signing (1) — Image Source: https://rb.gy/wrgiq2

This article is written by Himanshu Mahamuni, of Government Law College, Mumbai. This article analyzes the stance of Indian courts of non-signatories to the arbitration agreement and its effect on the arbitral award.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Recent trends in contracts have shown that contracts have become complex because of the scale of work it involves and the number of stakeholders involved in it. Large scale contracts usually have more than two parties to execute the project who are not signatory to the main contracts directly. These other non-signatories parties are involved through ancillary contracts connected to the main contracts and are liable for any damage or compensation as a result of the breach of any contract clause by either party. The parties to the dispute usually choose the path of alternative dispute resolution (usually arbitration) to resolve the matter before going to court. The disputes regarding the arbitration are judged on the lines of provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. This resolution brings the involvement of the non-signatory parties to the contract. The duties of the court consist of adjudging the amount of involvement of these parties in the contract which is entered by two signatory parties and the disputes related to the arbitral award. The High Courts and the Supreme Court have had different rigid and flexible stances throughout the judgments for the effect of the arbitral award on non-signatories to the main agreement, finally having a consensual judgement.

In this article, we will discuss the scope of arbitral awards in India and their awarding to the non-signatories to the arbitration agreement with the help of important case laws and precedence of Courts in India.

Scope of arbitral awards in India

The scope of arbitral awards in India is directed by Part I of the Act, which deals with the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards to a domestic award of Indian seated arbitration, whereas Part II of the Act deals with the enforcement of the foreign award. The amount awarded by the arbitral tribunal is enforced in India in the same manner as it was a decree of the Indian Court.

The 2015 Amendment Act brought landmark changes in the enforceability of the award to the non-signatory parties given by the tribunal. Before the 2015 Amendment Act, Section 36 provided that, where the time limit for preferring an application under Section 34 of the Act has been expired or dismissed, the arbitral award shall be enforceable. The enforced award shall have the same effect as that of the decree of the court. This was interpreted by the Supreme Court in the case of Board of Control for Cricket in India v Kochi Cricket Pvt Ltd & Ors (2018) as an automatic stay on the enforceability of an order if it was challenged under Section 34 of the Act and dismissed the automatic stay unless a separate application was successfully made for it. This case also clarified that the 2015 Amendment will have a retrospective effect, which means that the new Section 36 of the Act will be applicable on the court proceedings even before the effective date of the amendment, that is 23rd October 2015.

This, later on, as amended by the substitution of new Section 36, which provided that the award will not have an automatic stay and rendered unenforceable by appeal under Section 36 of the Act unless it was granted by a stay order by the Court. The grant of stay for an arbitral award for payment of money has to follow the provisions of the grant of stay of money decrees given in the Code of Civil Procedure,1908.

The requirements for successful enforcement of arbitral awards include:

A three-month lapse from the date of receipt of the award;
Notice of effective service to the opposite party;
Award on an appropriate value stamp paper;
steps to attach, arrest or appoint a receiver; and
To comply with the principles of Natural Justice.

The requirements for successful enforcement of a foreign arbitral award in India include:

The original award or an authentic copy is presented; and
The original agreement or certified copy of the contract.

The time limit for enforcement of an arbitral award, although absent in the Act but has been mentioned in the Limitation Act, 1963. A time limit of 12 years from the date of order to be enforceable as provided in Section 136 of the Limitation Act.

Doctrine of group of companies

The members of distinct judicial identity in the same economic reality should be taken into account by the arbitral tribunal when it rules on its jurisdiction as a group of companies on which the decision of one entity shall be binding on all. It is an important concept to understand if non-signatories are part of arbitration or not. This concept of a group of companies was introduced in the case of Dow Chemical v. Isover-Saint-Gobain(1982) in the ICC tribunal for the arbitral award.

In this case, the dispute arose between various contracts between subsidiaries of Dow Chemical Company and Isover but not directly between Dow Chemical Company and Isover itself. Here the Isover objected that the parties to the jurisdiction were not parties to the contract and had no claim to make under single arbitration. The ICC arbitral panel ruled in this case that merely the corporate ties between the companies are not enough to bind all the affected parties under a single arbitration. These companies can be parties of the arbitration if they play an essential role in the following stages of the contracts-

Conclusion, or
Performance, or
Termination

An arbitration clause can be binding on the companies of the group if they are an essential part of the conclusion, performance or the termination of the contract.

When can non-signatories be bound to an arbitral award

The non-signatories can be bound by the arbitral award of the arbitral tribunal. The Indian Courts have arrived at this decision after a long drawn interpretation in various cases. The Supreme Court initially denied the right of parties to be bound by the principle of the group of companies in a single arbitration and the arbitration agreement was only binding on the people who entered the contract. However, over time, passing from judgement to judgment, the Courts have reverted from this stance and broadened the scope of adoption of the principle of the group of companies. This includes various important judgments of the High Court as well as the Supreme Court which are addressed below in the order for better understanding.

Important case laws

Sukanya Holdings Pvt. Ltd v. Jayesh H. Pandya & Anr, 2003

In the Sukanya case, the dispute was related to the same transaction between several parties out of which some were not even signatories to the arbitration agreement in the clause. The Supreme Court stated that, according to Section 8 of the Act, the non-signatories are not to be referred to a single arbitration. The arbitration proceeding was to be restricted to the parties to the agreement and the causes of action were not to be bifurcated in arbitration. The Supreme Court in the Sukanya judgement ruled that any person who is not a party to the arbitration cannot be asked or referred to be part of the arbitration.

This 2003 judgement of excluding non-signatory from arbitration without considering the involvement of the party to the business is not overruled to date but the Supreme Court has changed the stance from this judgment till the recent times.

Chloro Controls v. Severn Trent Water Purification Inc 2013

The Supreme Court in the case of Chloro Controls in 2013 gave a landmark precedent regarding the encompassing of non-signatories with the signatories to the arbitration clause, together in the same case of entire dispute resolution. One of the parties to the case was an Indian company and the other was a foreign company and the seat of arbitration was chosen to be London. Several interconnected contracts were not directly related to the parties. The Supreme Court while deciding whether the shareholders who are not signatory are party to the arbitration or not said that the Sukanya judgement was given in the context of Section 8 of the Act whereas this case is within the ambit of Section 45 of the Act. This gave a larger room for interpretation to the court for the Section. The Court passed a judgement based on the English law doctrine of the Group of Companies that the person appearing through or under Section 45 of the Act can be subject to arbitration even to non-signatory parties in exceptional circumstances. In this case, one of the important features to be considered before including non-signatory parties was to determine the intention of the parties.

Duro Felguera, S.A. v. Gangavaram Port Ltd, 2017

Section 8 of the Act was amended through the Amendment Act, 2015. Here the scope of ‘party’ was increased to ‘a party to the arbitration agreement or any person claiming through or under him’ by replacing the word party. This amendment along with the 246th report of the Law Commission of India was supposed to increase the scope of domestic arbitration to include the non-signatories as the Chloro Control case only ruled on foreign arbitration. The determination of whether the ratio of Chloro Control was applicable in domestic arbitration was further clarified in the Gangavaram Port Ltd (GPL) case (2017).

In this case, one party was an Indian company and the other was a French company. The French company entered into various contracts with the Indian company through its subsidiaries. The Indian Company argued that a single arbitration was to be initiated following the ratio provided in the Chloro Controls. In this case, the Supreme Court denied the request for a composite arbitration request. The contracts entered by the subsidiary companies and the main company at dispute had separate arbitration clauses in its contracts. Whereas in the case of Chloro Control, the agreements other than main agreements which did not have separate arbitration agreements were connected with the composite transaction of main parties at dispute and only the main agreement had an arbitration clause. The case interprets that the 2015 amendment is not applicable if the agreement was not consistent with the primary transaction between the parties and had other contracts that had a separate arbitration clause.

Ameet Lalchand Shah and Ors. v. Rishabh Enterprises and Ors, 2018

The Ameet Lalchand case also determined the scope of the party introduced in Section 8 of the Act by the 2015 Amendment Act. It answered whether the non-signatories were part of the single arbitration where there were several contracts, of which all of them did not have arbitration clauses. The contracts were related to the same project to which the main parties entered the agreement.

In this case, the Supreme Court held that where all contracts were intrinsically connected to the main project which was the main contract entered between two parties, agreements other than main agreements are to be called ancillary agreements. Since the main contract had the arbitration clause attached to it, all the parties involved in the dispute could be addressed through the single contract.

In this case, the Supreme Court diluted the judgment passed in the Sukanya case without overriding it to the extent of Section 8 of the Act. Thus the Sukanya case now has a very limited scope of acceptability in similar fact scenarios and parties can pass all their requests through one single arbitration forming the part of the same transaction even when they do not contain an arbitration clause in them. The test of the Sukanya case can be referred only to cases when all the parties to the single arbitration are necessary parties or the arbitration agreement itself was bad in law.

Cheran Properties Limited v. Kasturi and Sons Ltd, 2018

The Cheran Properties case addresses the issue of the binding effect of the arbitral award on the third party if they are subject to Section 35 of the Act, which contains the parties and persons claiming under them. In this case, the award-holder claimed the award against the third party, claiming that the party was the nominee of the judgment-debtor. Here the agreement containing the arbitration clause was entered between the award-holder and the judgment-debtor between whom the arbitral proceedings were held. The Court observed that the award can be made after cautious observation of certain factors such as the relationship of signatory and non-signatory, commonality of subject matter and the composite nature of the transaction. The facts and circumstances of the case are to be evaluated in the context before giving the award. The intention of the non-signatory to be bound by the arbitration has to be established beforehand. The non-signatory can be awarded with the award, but with proper cautious scrutiny.

Conclusion

The courts in India have been accepting of the stance to allow non-signatories to be part of the arbitration and further claim the award from the award they were not part of. The change from the Sukanya case of the non-signatories not being a part of composite arbitration to the case of Cheran Properties where not only non-signatories are part but can be a party to the award too. The Chloro Control and Ameet Lalchand case has played a prominent role for the courts in reaching the decision of Cheran Properties. The 2015 amendment to the Act and 246th report of the Law Commission of India has aided the extent of the principle presented in Chloro Control. Lastly, Cheran Properties laid down the scrutinised observation to be followed in awarding arbitral awards to non-signatory.

References

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skills.

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Legal uses of shell companies

By

Shoronya Banerjee

-

November 17, 2021

0

shell-companies — Image source: https://rb.gy/gpqr2l

This article is written by Prerana Das, pursuing a 6-Month Growth Camp: Preparation for LLM Abroad from LawSikho. The article has been edited by Zigishu Singh (Associate, LawSikho) and Smriti Katiyar (Associate, LawSikho).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Shell firms are businesses founded for illegal objectives such as money laundering, tax evasion, Ponzi schemes, and insider trading. The businesses do not operate, do not have a registered office, and do not have any significant assets. The government has recently taken measures to rein down India’s growing number of shell companies. As a result, a significant number of shell firms have been shut down. As a result, the current concerns and challenges confronting shell enterprises are highlighted in this study report. In the first part of the article, the author will introduce the concept of shell companies as an offence The latter half of the article discusses the legal uses of shell companies.

The phrase ‘Shell Company’ is not defined anywhere, but it can be interpreted to denote firms that are formed solely to create a separate legal entity that does not conduct any activity. These firms may be formed primarily for the purpose of doing business in the future, but more often than not, the promoters have no intention of doing business through them. Most shell companies don’t produce or sell anything, and they don’t provide any services. A «shell company, » which is a corporation that simply exists on paper and has no office or staff, is one of the most crucial tools in corporate restructuring. It is frequently registered to the address of a company that specializes in forming shell businesses in tax havens. The majority of the time, shell companies are used to conducting financial transactions. In most cases, these businesses merely have assets on paper and not in reality. Almost no economic activity is carried out by these businesses.

Shell corporations are used for a variety of valid purposes:

To save money in order to start a business,
As a cover for product development that a well-established corporation might want to keep secret until it’s ready,
Facilitate financial institutions’ ability to conduct financial transactions in overseas markets,
To raise funding and keep control over the conglomerate company,
Create a “tax haven” in another country.

Shell corporations are legal entities. When they are employed for criminal purposes, they become illegal. Setting up a shell corporation doesn’t require much identification, and buyers are assured that their identities will remain hidden. As a result, they are more likely to be involved in illegal activities such as money laundering, tax evasion, corruption, terrorism, and drug trafficking.

Shell companies do not necessarily pose a risk because of their nature, but when used in conjunction with other instruments such as international tax treaties or lax transparency requirements, they can increase and facilitate asset origin concealment, beneficial owner concealment, and fraud workers’ rights.

Why are shell companies formed?

Shell companies are usually associated with the following activities:

Money laundering and the conversion of black money into white money: When demonetization took place in 2016, a slew of shell firms were identified. This was due to their involvement in the use of black money. Instead of making deposits, many people and businesses use shell firms to store their excess cash.
Making money from Ponzi Schemes: Individuals or businesses can set up shell firms to mislead others by presenting false schemes and profiting from them. They save money by using these firms because it is difficult to uncover the real persons behind the plan when fraud is discovered, and the only entity that can be blamed is the corporation.
Tax evasion: Corporations frequently establish shell firms in offshore jurisdictions where taxes are levied at a lower rate. These areas are referred to as ‘Tax Havens.’ Panama and Switzerland are two examples of these places. These corporations use shell companies to hide their assets and avoid paying taxes on them.
Hiding the true owners’ identities: Finding the genuine owner of a shell corporation can be difficult because the owners of these companies frequently succeed in concealing their identities. They can’t be found since the company’s or directors’ registered office is frequently at a different location from the address given to the registrar.

Legal uses of the shell companies

While shell companies are frequently used for illicit purposes, big corporations and individuals use them legally. Some of the uses are:

A Special-Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) is utilised to finance an existing private firm by raising funds through a public stock offering. SPACs are referred to as shell companies because they may not have any company operations or employees.
To stage a hostile takeover, a shell company could be established. This occurs when a company buys another company without the consent of the target company’s management.
If a company wants to keep its dealings with another disreputable company, it can set up a shell company specifically for that purpose.
When the main firm/owner of the shell company plans to launch a new company, the money is temporarily held or stored.
People may construct shell corporations to hide money in order to avoid becoming a target for criminals and thieves, if a company is working in a risky country like Afghanistan, where terrorist activities are common.
Shell corporations can also be established in order to get access to international markets.
To safeguard assets from lawsuits.

What laws are violated by the shell companies?

The following laws are broken as a result of the shell company’s:

Benami Transactions Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2016: This Act grants the government the authority to seize benami assets, which are assets held in the name of another person or fictional person in order to dodge taxation or hide unaccounted money.
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA): When money that has not been taxed, i.e. unaccounted or black money, is passed via a shell corporation to appear as untainted money, it is considered money laundering under Section 3 of the PMLA and is punishable by 3 to 7 years in prison and a fine.
Indian Penal Code: When shell corporations are used for Ponzi schemes, a crime under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code relating to defrauding is committed, which is punishable by imprisonment or a term of up to 7 years in prison, as well as a fine.

What steps is the government taking to combat unlawful shell companies?

The regulators started by waging a two-pronged attack against shell corporations. In February 2017, a task group on shell corporations was established under the joint chairmanship of the Revenue Secretary and the Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. An investigation by the income tax department led to the identification of shell companies that were being used as conduits and criminal prosecution was launched by the income tax department against the beneficiaries of non-genuine transactions.

Shell companies were targeted for license revocation by the ministry of corporate affairs. The corporations that had not filed their financial statements were the first target. Section 248 of the Companies Act 2013 empowers the Registrar of Companies to strike a company off the register of companies if it fails to commence business within one year of its incorporation or if it fails to carry on business for two financial years and has not applied for dormant company status.

Over two lakh firms were struck off in 2017 as a result of this section, and the MCA published a list of these entities by ROC on its website. In addition, MCA has published a list of directors linked with these businesses. For a period of five years, the companies’ directors were barred from acting as directors of any other entities. These companies’ banking operations were likewise prohibited and the directors were barred from using their bank accounts.

Following demonetisation, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has made significant progress in its inquiry into the use of shell firms to deposit enormous quantities of cash in banks. Four Maharashtra-based companies revealed to authorities that they were only being used as a front face to carry out money laundering actions,” according to a report. These four businesses mostly dealt with things for which no tax was due.

Given that the government is focused on boosting the ease of doing business, which is directly related to the reduction of corruption and the parallel economy, it is reasonable to expect that the existence and operation of shell firms will become more difficult. However, in response to widespread resistance to the directors’ disqualification, the MCA has issued the Condonation of Delay plan, 2018, via General Circular dated December 29, 2017, which provides relief to such disqualified directors.

Conclusion

Shell firms that engage in illicit dealings, as they usually do, can be a big hurdle for the economy by engaging in tax evasion, money laundering, and other criminal activities. There is a major problem in India when it comes to working with these companies. This is due to the fact that there is no special rule of law that deals with Shell corporations. Furthermore, there is no legal definition or criteria for recognition.

The need for a well-structured approach to dealing with shell businesses is evident. In addition, such a framework must ensure that such regulation does not construct additional barriers for legal entities that appear to be shell companies.

A thorough, balanced definition of shell companies is needed, one that is broad enough to meet all criteria for identifying illegal shell companies while being restrictive enough to exclude all lawful shell companies.

References

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skills.

LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals, and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join:

https://t.me/joinchat/J_0YrBa4IBSHdpuTfQO_sA

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Copyright infringement of Instagram photos and legal lacunas in their copyright protection

By

Oishika Banerji

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November 17, 2021

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This article has been written by Erum Khatoon pursuing the Diploma in US Technology Law and Paralegal Studies: Structuring, Contracts, Compliance, Disputes and Policy Advocacy from LawSikho. This article has been edited by Zigishu Singh (Associate, Lawsikho) and Smriti Katiyar (Associate, Lawsikho).

Table of Contents

The global importance of Instagram

Instagram is ranked amongst the four most popular social media platforms in the world along with WhatsApp, FB Messenger and WeChat. It was first launched in October 2010 and since then its popularity has been on the rise. Currently, the Monthly Active Users of Instagram is 1-Billion people. The main attraction of this frantically growing platform is its various features that allow creation and sharing of novel artistic work. Other than posting photos with innumerable filtering options, the users can also create “Instagram stories” that will be available for 24-hours, “Ephemeral messages” that destructs the messages after they have been viewed, “IGTV” that allows extremely long videos, “going live” that allows real-time connections with the followers and receiving their comments, and “Reels” which are basically a 15-second videos appropriate for sharing funny messages mostly.

On a daily basis, an average of 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram. With this number of posts being shared, we can only imagine the number of infringements happening . The disputes are mostly about use of another’s pictures, background music or art without consent or permission. It brings us to the question of how to determine, who owns the rights to any material posted on Instagram?

Ownership of rights

Generally speaking, the creator of an artistic work is also the owner of it unless a person is appointed to create original work for another in which case the person appointing the other will own the rights. It is advisable that the parties should sign a contract that clearly mentions the ownership rights and that the appointee is liable only for creating/ editing the content against a fixed fee.

One very interesting case of 2015 with regards to the issue of ownership of rights is where a monkey had stolen a camera and took his selfie which was placed on a few wildlife websites by the owner of the camera but it went viral all around the world. When the owner of the camera requested Wikipedia to take down the picture as he had rights to it, his claim was denied with the reply that the picture was taken by the monkey hence, the rights rest with the monkey! The 9th Circuit Court of the USA denied this by stating that although the monkey had constitutional right under Article III of the US constitution yet it lacked the Statutory right as the Copyrights Act only protects the right of humans.

Although the above case was unable to determine the rights of the photographer, there are many instances where the photographer’s ownership of their pictures have been reinstated by the courts. A number of models have been sued by the Paparazzi/ agencies for infringement of their rights to ‘photographs of these models’ that were taken by the photographer. One very famous such case is where Gigi Hadid was sued by an agency named Xclusive-Lee for posting her picture on her Instagram account that was snapped by the photographer hired by the agency. Hadid’s lawyer asserted that she had posed for the photo, the dress was of her own choice and thus she was the one directing it. Also, as the picture was cropped before posting, it was no longer the original work of the photographer but in fact it was now modified. Although she won the case due to the absence of any copyright claims filed by the agency for the photograph, the claims made by the model were not taken by the court as grounds to its verdict.

Above is an example of why many celebrities have recently started to take copyright infringement seriously. This is the reason why the Kardashians are known to use their private photographers only. There are many limitations on the pictures or posts that can actually be posted online by individuals because of copyright laws. But it also brings us to the next question of what Instagram is doing to limit such cases and if any policies are there to stop infringement of copyright laws?

User’s commitments as per Instagram Policy

As legal rights may vary all over the world, the policy of the website plays an essential role in bringing all the users on one legal platform when they register on it and hence agree to the terms of use of the website. Some essential rules that are contained in their terms are as below:

1. Impersonation or giving wrong information regarding oneself is prohibited. Creating an account on behalf of another is also not allowed. A person must be at least 13 years old (or of legal age in their country) to create a profile. Convicted sex offenders and people having disabled their accounts due to violation of law/ policies are also prohibited from using Instagram.

2. In order to use the platform, one must abstain from violating terms or doing fraudulent/ misleading activities.

3. A domain name/ URL may not be used without prior written consent of Instagram.

4. An account may not be created in an unauthorized way with the purpose of collecting information only.

5. Accounts and data contained in them cannot be sold, purchased or licensed.

6. Private or confidential information belonging to someone else cannot be posted on Instagram.

Permissions given by user to Instagram

As a part of the agreement and in order to provide seamless service, the following are some of the permissions that the users grant Instagram per se:

i. Instagram shall have a non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use, host, distribute, display, run, copy, modify, or publicly perform, translate, create derivative works of the user’s content. If the user deletes the content from Instagram, this license will end.

ii. Instagram has a permission to show the username, profile picture and information about the actions of its users E.g. “likes”, or their relationships E.g. “follows” next to or in connection with accounts, ads, offers and other sponsored content that the user is following or engaging with that are displayed on Facebook Products, without any compensation to the user. For example, Instagram may show that you liked a sponsored post created by a brand that has paid to Instagram for displaying its ads.

iii. Instagram has the permission to download and update the service on users’ devices.

The lacuna in the policy

The above commitments and permissions are general in nature and need to be agreed to by all users before logging in on Instagram. However, it must be admitted that there is no guarantee of any action that the platform can take per se for the infringement of a person’s right or reputation. The biggest lacuna to the rights of the photographer is the consent of the model or any person walking on the street, for that matter.

Although the website claims to protect the identity of people,it is silent on the issue of a person’s privacy rights and their rights to not be photographed at all.

The case of Volvo’s Insta-story

Recently, Volvo, the automobile company was sued over an Instagram story which included pictures of a model posing in front of a Volvo car along with the link to the Volvo website. The model and the photographer filed a lawsuit claiming that a copyright violation has been made by the company by posting their picture. They also accused the company of unfair competition, false endorsement, and misappropriation of the model’s likeness.

Volvo in its defense filed a Motion to Dismiss wherein it was claimed that the pictures were shared publicly by the model herself and by tagging the automobile company it was clear that the model does not have a claim to redistribute the images. Moreover, it was claimed that the photos were not used in any paid advertisement claims but only used on social media and once requested by the photographer were immediately removed from the platform. Their argument was heavily criticized in the media where it was regarded as disrespectful to the livelihoods of millions of artists who are depending on social media for earning money.

Reposting of content was defended by the spokesperson of Facebook (which own’s Instagram) by saying, “Under our terms, we are granted a non-exclusive license from users then they post content, giving us the ability to sub-license content reshared on Instagram (subject to someone’s settings). We do not extend this sub-license to platforms outside of Instagram, and we require third parties to have the necessary rights from applicable rights holders in accordance with our policies.”

Nevertheless, by reading the above case law case one cannot but wonder why Volvo did not sue the photographer for using Volvo’s car and hence their symbol in the photographs? The one-sidedness of the legal perspective with regards to protecting rights to ownership is evident.

Conclusion

It is good to be the originator of any work in today’s world as the law is by far and large on the side of the artist. However, with regards to the rights of the subject of photography, it’s a different story. The distinction between the use of another’s art and self-expression is not that clear-cut.

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skills.

LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals, and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join:https://t.me/joinchat/J_0YrBa4IBSHdpuTfQO_sA

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Mergers between listed transferor company and unlisted transferee company

By

Oishika Banerji

-

November 17, 2021

0

This article has been written by Abhishek Nair pursuing the Diploma in M&A, Institutional Finance and Investment Laws (PE and VC transactions) from LawSikho. This article has been edited by Tanmaya Sharma (Associate, Lawsikho) and Smriti Katiyar (Associate, Lawsikho).

Table of Contents

Introduction

This article aims to analyse the statutory and legal provisions governing mergers between a listed transferor company and an unlisted transferee company. the author of the paper will briefly talk about mergers that are the other way round i.e., an unlisted transferor company and a listed transferee company. A rather challenging transactional structure always arises when there is a merger between one listed company and one unlisted company. It is far more of a headache for the regulatory authorities as this is usually a way of getting listed by circumventing the various statutory and regulatory compliances that need to be followed in order for a company to be listed. For this article, the author will be focusing upon mergers between a listed transferor company and an unlisted transferee company, but the author shall give some attention to the mergers between an unlisted transferor company and a listed transferee company to highlight the contrast between them.

Statutory and regulatory compliances

Section 232(h) of the Companies Act, 2013 states:

where the transferor company is a listed company and the transferee company is an unlisted company, –

(A) the transferee company shall remain an unlisted company until it becomes a listed company;

(B) if shareholders of the transferor company decide to opt-out of the transferee company, the provision shall be made for payment of the value of shares held by them and other benefits in accordance with a pre-determined price formula or after a valuation is made, and the arrangements under this provision may be made by the Tribunal.

This provision of the Companies Act, 2013 effectively allows a company to delist its shares by entering into a scheme of arrangement for merger or demerger by circumventing the SEBI(Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, 2009. Itis important to note at this point that the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (LODR); and SEBI (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, 2009 (Delisting Regulations) are the two key Regulations that come into play during a merger/amalgamation. Regulation 37 of SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations [hereinafter referred to as SEBI Listing Regulations, 2015 provides for prior approval of the stock exchanges in case a listed company proposes to undertake such a scheme of arrangement by filing the draft scheme to obtain a “No-Objection” certificate. Regulation 94 of the SEBI Listing Regulations, 2015 requires the concerned stock exchange to send the draft schemes to the SEBI for further approval. The SEBI further issues a no-objection certificate or sends an observation letter for the judicial tribunals to consider.

SEBI circulars

The 2017 SEBI Circular on ‘Schemes of Arrangement by Listed Entities was notified to alleviate SEBI’s primary concern with these schemes that do not provide for an exit opportunity to the public shareholders of the listed company. The Circular provides that voting needs should be taken by the company before such scheme of the arrangement, and that the number of public shareholders voting in favour should be higher than the number of public shareholders voting against which has created the need for greater scrutiny and disclosures.

In case of a hive-off of a division of a listed entity into an unlisted entity, and a subsequent listing of the merged entity, the entire share capital of the pre-merger unlisted entity has to be locked in.

SEBI in its circular dated January 3, 2018, amended the 2017 circular. The lock-in mechanism was amended so that in case of a scheme involving a merger of a listed company or a division of it into an unlisted company, the lock-in mechanism on the pre merged unlisted entity are as follows:

(a) Lock-in up to three years from the listing of the shares held by the Promoters up to the extent of 20% of the post-merger paid-up capital of the unlisted issuer,

(b) Lock-in for one year from the date of listing of the shares of the unlisted entity on the remaining shares

(c) No additional lock-in shall be applicable if the post scheme shareholding pattern of the unlisted entity is exactly similar to the shareholding pattern of the listed entity.

The 2018 circular also provides for the ‘inter-se’ transfer of the locked-in shares. Inter-se transfer of shares refers to the transfer of shares amongst the promoters. Regulation 40 of the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009, provides for the regulation on the transfer or transmission or transposition of securities. The Lock-in period will continue in this case, and the transferee cannot transfer the shares till the Lock-in period ends.

It is also mandatory for the listed entity to provide an abridged prospectus letter to the shareholders of the unlisted entity to seek their approval for the scheme of arrangement. The total percentage of the public shareholders of the listed entity and the qualified institutional buyers has to be at least 25% in the final post scheme final merged entity. The unlisted company can only merge with a listed entity on a listed nationwide trading stock exchange.

Precedent draft schemes

Prior to the 2017 SEBI Circular

Sterlite Technologies Limited (STL) and Sterlite Power Transmission Limited (STPL): –

STL, a listed company, wished to demerge its power products and transmission grid business into SPTL, an unlisted company. SEBI in its observation letter dated 28 August 2015 objected to the scheme of arrangement over concerns of a lack of exit mechanism for the public shareholders in the partial delisting.

Zodiac Ventures Limited (ZVL) and Developers Private Limited (ZDPL): –

ZVL, a listed company, and its amalgamation to ZDPL, an unlisted company, along with the further dissolution of ZVL, was objected to by SEBI in its observation letter dated 4 August 2015 observing that the scheme of amalgamation does not provide an exit opportunity to the public shareholders.

Emami Realty Limited and Zandu Realty Limited: –

Emami Realty Limited, an unlisted company, wished to merge with Zandu Realty Limited, a listed company. SEBI objected to the scheme of arrangement of merger identifying the issue of the nature of backdoor listing as the final entity was trying to attain listing benefits without following the requirements provided in the Securities Contracts (Regulations) Rules, 1957 and SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements)Regulations, 2009.

ACE TC Rentals Private Limited and Action Construction Equipment Limited: –

Similar to the issue of Emami Realty Limited and Zandu Realty Limited, SEBI objected to the same kind of scheme of arrangement on the same ground of getting listed through the backdoor without following the listing requirements.

Post-2017 Circular

Post the 2017 Circular most of the draft schemes submitted to SEBI have provided for creating a listed final entity, by following the directions issued in the circular. This meant that SEBI to a huge extent can solve its issue regarding public shareholders and at the same time is able to approve mergers of the type listed in Section 232(h) of the Companies Act, 2013.

Alembic Limited, Shreno Limited and Nirayu Limited: –

A composite scheme of arrangement was filed with the stock exchanges on 20 November 2018 regarding the above mentioned three parties. The real estate undertaking of Alembic Limited, a listed company, was to be demerged and transferred to Shreno Limited, an unlisted company. Non-cumulative redeemable preference shares were to be issued to the shareholders of Alembic Limited as consideration for the transfer and shares were not going to be listed on the stock exchange. NSE issued a no objection letter for the scheme on 25 January 2019.

Idea Cellular Limited and Vodafone India: –

One of the key questions of backdoor listing arose in 2017, when Telecom giants, Vodafone India, an unlisted company, and Idea Cellular Limited, a listed company, planned to merge. The final entity Vodafone Idea was going to be listed and therefore there were claims that Vodafone was attempting to bypass the delisting regulations. SEBI had given conditional approval to the merger deal between Idea Cellular and Vodafone India stating that the deal would be subject to the regulator’s ongoing probe and approvals from public shareholders and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

It is to be noted that while I have extensively discussed the observation letters from SEBI, these objections are merely advisory and such objections cannot stop the companies from sending their schemes to the NCLT for approval. SEBI’s objections merely create guidelines for the companies to incorporate so that there is a higher chance for NCLT approval and inform NCLT of the objections if the company does not wish to alter its scheme.

Conclusion

Going back into the earlier discussion of Backdoor Listing vs. Backdoor Delisting, it is quite evident that clarity is missing from the SEBI statutory and regulatory frameworks. A large chunk of knowledge on this topic comes from analyzing and looking into precedent draft schemes that have been approved, and what has been objected to. It is still unclear to what extent a final entity listed after a merger between an unlisted and a listed company will be subject to the regulations under Delisting Regulations. It has to be observed that the statutory and regulatory provisions were only providing for the instance of a merger of an unlisted company with a listed company resulting in an unlisted entity, not a listed final entity.

SEBI through its 2017 and 2018 circulars has created a better regulatory framework regarding schemes of arrangement by listed and unlisted companies and created a more efficient path for companies to merge, and at the same time is protecting the rights of the shareholders. However, I believe circulars and press releases only go so far as this complicated issue needs an entirely separate set of rules and regulations to tackle the multilateral issues of rights/ obligations of transferor companies, transferee companies, public shareholders, in listing mergers and demergers, and delisting mergers and demergers.

SEBI’s failure to understand the scope of Section 232(h) of the Companies Act, 2013 needs to be rectified immediately and it should make the scope and applicability of the delisting regulations clearer for companies that undertake such a scheme of arrangement. Without such a step, Section 232(h) itself proves to be a moot point.

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All you need to know about working in an IPR law firm

By

Sneha Mahawar

-

November 17, 2021

0

IPR — Image Source: https://rb.gy/bvk98x

This article is written by Ms Kishita Gupta from Unitedworld School of Law, Karnavati University, Gandhinagar. In this, she has discussed various aspects that one should know about working in a law firm that is based specifically to deal with the issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights.

Introduction

To secure and defend Intellectual Property and maximise the value gained from it, multidisciplinary experience (spanning domains such as law, research, and engineering) and abilities (including writing and designing the best Intellectual Property strategy) are required. In order to understand and carry out their responsibilities, a patent agent, litigator, or technical advisor must have an Intellectual Property-focused approach.

To name a few, opinions on patentability, patenting, filing, prosecution, pre and post-grant opposition, freedom-to-operate, due diligence, patent watch, evolving effective patent strategy, trademark registration and protection, antitrust, plant variety protection (PVP), and copyright licencing are the services provided by an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) law firm.

In an IPR law firm, the team is involved generally in every aspect of international and domestic arbitration such as:

Drafting the clauses relating to arbitration in a contract.
Aiding in the selection of arbitral seats.
Process and advise the clients on the appointment of arbitrators.
Advising and representing clients from the commencement of arbitration until the final hearing of the matter.
Seeking interim measures of protection from courts and arbitral tribunals.
Assisting in enforcing arbitral awards and taking recourse against awards.

In this article, a brief understanding regarding working in an IPR law firm is explained, so that it becomes easier for one to choose a career in Intellectual Property Rights.

Areas of practice

Let’s say you’ve come up with a novel idea and want to safeguard it, but you’re not sure how. You can use IPR firms for IP-related services in this instance. They can assist you throughout the process and represent you in front of the authorities. IP businesses can assist you by advising on the appropriate method for protection, filing your application in the designated office, and assisting you with the subsequent steps.

Spotting

Invention identification

To get the broadest protection for the client’s inventions, one needs to figure out what assets need to be protected as soon as feasible. The IPR law firm’s qualified attorneys assist their clients in methodically evaluating their invention disclosures in order to find any valuable patents that may exist.

The IPR firm also assists clients in developing an internal method to better document and protect their ideas from potential allegations of misuse. If one doesn’t currently have an innovation identification and documentation system, the firm also helps them in creating it.

Trademark selection

Creating a brand image and strategy for a new product or service is part of the marketing process. The firm’s customers must be able to tell the difference between brands in the marketplace. Thus, Trademarks are an important part of their brand.

An IPR law firm also assists its clients in identifying truly unique names and monikers. Further, they also help the client in finding and removing existing names and monikers. This service assists firms in making the most of their unique identity and name while avoiding future issues.

In this digital age, an individual’s brand identity is reflected not only in their products but also in their online presence. Thus, many IPR firms offer the most comprehensive protection available by working with their client early to build their presence and signature. Infringers who are cyber-squatting on a brand can be addressed by registering domain names and addressing infringers who are cybersquatting on the brand.

If one desires to work in an IPR law firm, then a thorough knowledge of the following is a mandate:

Procurements

The attorneys at the IPR firms have extensive experience developing patents, trademarks, and design portfolios for a variety of large and medium-sized businesses, with a focus on hi-tech, ICT, life sciences, including drugs and pharmaceuticals, bio-tech and genetics, chemical and oil, automobile and mechanical engineering, to name a few.

Patent

Patents are legal documents that guarantee the protection of an invention. Patents provide financial incentives for research and development. They are awarded for a short period of time and are only enforceable in the country that granted them. The law firms have the synergies to assist clients to acquire and preserve their IP rights on a global or national scale, wherever the firm operates, allowing them to get the most out of their research investments.

So if one believes their invention requires expert guidance to maximise its worth, they contact the IPR law firms to seek assistance in identifying patentable assets and get advice on how to best protect them. With their hands-on experience preparing and prosecuting patent applications, they understand the uniqueness of each invention and bring their knowledge to an individual in this area, allowing businesses to obtain the broadest possible protection.

Trademark

Trademarks play a critical role in boosting the value of any intellectual property. In an increasingly consumer-driven market, trademarks can help businesses create and defend their brand identity. In order to obtain trademark protection, the mark must not only be distinctive but also have a distinct edge that allows it to be distinguished from others.

The attorneys present at the IPR law firm must know how to protect and enforce trademarks, as well as what it takes to build goodwill in the marketplace.

Copyright

Copyrights are a set of legal rights that safeguard an idea’s creative expression. While ideas aren’t protected in and of themselves, your expression of them can be. This is an exclusive right that covers literature, theatre, music, art, films, computer programmes, and sound recordings, among other things.

Copyright prosecution and registration, licencing and assignment, contract negotiation and drafting, due diligence, clearances and regulatory compliances, dispute resolution, and enforcement are some of the services provided by IPR law firms throughout the world. In addition to the aforementioned services, some of them like Anand & Anand even have specialised teams in the fields of arts and antiquities, media and entertainment, and information technology and e-commerce to provide their client’s with the best services.

Design

Design registration allows businesses to protect their product’s decorative design, including its shape, look, and surface pattern. A product, packaging, or logo may be included in the design. The uniqueness of the design gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace, and it’s critical to keep rivals from exploiting that advantage.

The IPR law firm offers a wide range of services, including prosecution, enforcement, and advice. They undertake design prosecution for a wide range of products, including industrial products, handicrafts, technical and medical instruments, watches and jewellery, houseware, electrical appliances, and automobiles.

IP litigation

A Supreme Court, 24 High Courts, and over 600 District Courts make up India’s federal legal system. Five of the 24 High Courts have original jurisdiction, meaning they are first-instance courts. The High Courts of Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai, which are courts of the first instance, are principally responsible for intellectual property litigation. In most cases, there are two stages of appeal from court orders.

In terms of overall litigation, trademark litigation leads, followed by copyright and patent litigation. Misuse of trade secrets, know-how, and sensitive information is also a common issue of IP litigation, and the law is influenced by court rulings. Criminal prosecution is a secondary enforcement tool used largely in counterfeiting instances. Criminal cases with IP roots are occasionally filed as a weapon to force a settlement or achieve a balance of power with the right owners. Fortunately, the latter is a rare occurrence.

The IP law firm’s main goal is to help courts and tribunals establish IP jurisprudence while also satisfying its clients’ goals and expectations from litigation in the most resource-efficient and cost-effective way possible. To get the greatest results for their clients, they investigate unique treatments and employ case-specific techniques.

Transactions

Intellectual property rights and technological know-how can be sold, licenced, or transferred for a profit. Each sector of intellectual property necessitates a different strategy and offers distinct advantages. Let us understand how:

Patents

A business has the right as a patent holder to prevent others from creating or using its technology. It can also assign, sell, transfer, licence, mortgage, or pledge the patent to another person or business.

There are a variety of ways to profit from the business’s patents. A legal professional should review any document pertaining to patent rights. On both sides of the patent licencing process, the attorneys working at an IPR law firm work with a variety of clients and assist them in effectively navigating difficult and intricate licencing issues.

Trademarks

Any business has the option of allowing others to use their trademarks or assigning their rights as a trademark owner. An agreement can assist them to set the parameters, such as consideration, the scope of use, and royalty computations, to ensure their control over such use.

Thus, these IPR law firms help one to conduct such transactions smoothly while ensuring that all legal requirements are met. Furthermore, because these transactions are documented at the Trade Marks Registry, they also take all appropriate procedures when needed.

Copyright

Just like the above two, one can also award a right or interest in their works, including future works, if they own copyright. In order for such a gift to be legal, it must be written and signed by all parties concerned. These optional licences assist businesses in getting the most out of their work.

Unlike other Intellectual Property, the Copyright Board can award a compulsory licence in the case of copyright. A compulsory licence ensures that creative works are widely distributed for the benefit of the public. In general, a compulsory licence may be issued if the copyright holder has refused to allow the republishing of his work for an unreasonable period of time. In such circumstances, the Copyright Board holds a hearing and may issue the licence subject to any restrictions it considers appropriate, including payment. Applications can be submitted for translations of copyrighted works for the purposes of teaching, scholarship, or research.

Enforcements

Obtaining the widest protection for your creations is only one component of maximising the value of Intellectual Property to your business. When competitors and others infringe on your rights, you need a knowledgeable and experienced adviser to help you navigate the process and safeguard your intellectual property assets.

When someone or a group infringes on a business’s awarded IP rights, they must act upon it quickly. A demand to the infringing party may be sufficient in some situations. In some situations, one may need to go to court to enforce their rights. A granted IPR can be cancelled by a third party for a variety of reasons.

The extent of the patented claim, the infringing act, and whether the accused act violates the IPR monopoly will all be considered by the courts in determining whether infringement has occurred. In addition, the court will consider whether the infringing party made, used, exercised, sold, or distributed items or services in breach of the grant.

In such a situation, the attorneys at an IPR law firm use their experience in IPR enforcement and can advise the business on a plan for enforcing their rights and, if necessary, represent them in the court. The court can impose any remedy it sees fit, including monetary damages, an account of profits, order for the infringing material’s surrender, or any combination of the aforementioned.

Benefits of working in an IPR law firm

Working in an IPR law firm can be challenging as well as fun. While there may be some hardships and struggle to become the best, there are various benefits as well. Some of them are as follows:

An IPR lawyer is exposed to more creativity and innovations.
Usually, top IPR law firms have a client base of famous brands, celebrities, etc and therefore one gets exposed to popular culture and popular icons as well.
With the fast-growing tech sector, the career opportunities in IPR are also growing.
IPR law firms generally have clients internationally also, so one also gets international exposure.
It is also recognised that an IPR law firm pays quite well. At the entry-level, top IP law companies pay between 70,000 and 1,00,000 to new lawyers, while tier 2 law firms pay between 40,000 and 70,000. Smaller businesses can expect to pay between 25,000 and 40,000 dollars. With ten years of experience, partners might make anything from 50 lakhs to a crore or more. Those who are able to establish their own legal firms or even independent law practice and attract clients on their own grow the fastest.

Top IPR law firms in the world

Patent

According to Harrity LLP, the following firms are the top 10 ranked patent-based law firms in the world:

Oblon Mcclelland, Maier & Neustadt, L.L.P.;
Fish & Richardson P.C.;
Sughrue Mion, PLC;
Cantor Colburn LLP;
Birch Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP;
Oliff PLC;
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP;
Foley & Lardner LLP;
Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP;
Harness, Dickey & Pierce P.L.C.

Trademark

According to the world trademark review, the top trademark law firms in the world are as follows:

Allen & Overy LLP;
Arochi & Lindner SC;
Ashurst;
AWA;
Baker McKenzie;
Bird & Bird LLP;
Clyde & Co LLP;
Dentons;
DLA Piper;
Dorsey & Whitney LLP.

Top IPR law firms in India

As per the Asia IP informed analysis, the IP ranking is based on several categories and they have recognised top law firms for each of these categories as noted below:

National IP firm 2020

Anand and Anand;
Remfry & Sagar;
Singh & Singh.

IP Boutiques

Beruar & Beruar;
L.S. Davar & Co.;
SKS Law Associates;
ZeusIP.

Conclusion

After going through the above-mentioned areas of practice, it is clear that an attorney at an IPR law firm has to be well versed with the above practices and all the laws relating to Intellectual Property. We are witnessing a paradigm shift from corporations and companies hunting down tangible properties such as land and machinery towards acquiring intellectual assets. Thus, working in an IPR law firm and its practice internationally can be a great option and to know more about it register yourself for the Boot Camp organised by Lawsikho.

References

Students of Lawsikho courses regularly produce writing assignments and work on practical exercises as a part of their coursework and develop themselves in real-life practical skills.

LawSikho has created a telegram group for exchanging legal knowledge, referrals, and various opportunities. You can click on this link and join:

https://t.me/joinchat/J_0YrBa4IBSHdpuTfQO_sA

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